Our experience on brachial plexus blockade in upper extremity surgery

Objective: Peripheral nerve blocks are usually used either alone or along with general anesthesia for postoperative analgesia. We also aimed to present the results and experiences.Materials and methods: This retrospective study was conducted to scan the files of patients who underwent orthopedic upper extremity surgery with peripheral nerve block between September 2009 and October 2010. After ethics committee approval was obtained, 114 patients who were ASA physical status I-III, aged 18-70, performed upper extremity surgery in the Orthopedics and Traumatology Clinic were included to study. Patients’ demographic data, clinical diagnoses, premedication status, peripheral block type, local anesthetic dose, stimuplex needle types, hemodynamic parameters at the during surgery, the first postoperative analgesic requirements, complications and patient satisfaction were recorded.Results: Demographic data were similar to each other. Brachial plexus block was commonly performed for the forearm surgery. Infraclavicular block was performed the most frequently to patients. As the classical methods in the supine position were preferred in 98.2% of patients, Stimuplex A needle (B. Braun, Melsungen AG, Germany) have been used for blockage in 80.7% of patients. Also, in 54.4% of patients, 30 ml of local anesthetic solution composed of bupivacaine + prilocaine was used for blockade. Blocks applied to patients had provided adequate anesthesia.Conclusion: Since the brachial plexus blockade guided peripheral nerve stimulator for upper extremity surgery provide adequate depth of anesthesia and analgesia, it may be a good alternative to general anesthesia because of unwanted side effect

Evaluation of hospital infections developing in intensive care unit during a decade and review of literature

Objectives: Hospital acquired infections (HAI) are majorhealth problem in intensive care units. We aimed to determinethe nosocomial infection rate, distribution of HAI andthe distribution of microorganisms isolated from nosocomialinfections and their antibiotic resistance profiles in hospitalizedpatients in intensive care unit.Materials and methods: A total 222 patients with a diagnosisof hospital-acquired infection hospitalized between January2003 and June 2012 at Dicle University Medical FacultyHospital intensive care unit, were included in this study. Clinical,radiographic, laboratory data and culture results recordedto the standard forms and in the computer environment ona daily basis. Hospital acquired infections rates by year, distributionof HAI according to the systems, infectious agentswere determined.Results: A total of 327 episodes of HAI were developed222 (18.4%) of 1208 hospitalized patients in ten years periodper 21 974 patients day. Hospital-acquired infectionrate was 27.6 per 100 patient days and density was 15.2per 1000 patient days. The most common HAI were bloodstreaminfection (38.5%) and followed by pneumonia (24%)and ventilator-associated pneumonia (14.7%). Acinetobacterspp. (23.7%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (13.9%) werethe most frequently isolated bacteria. The most effective antibioticsagainst gram-negative microorganisms were colistin,amikacin, imipenem, meropenem, cefoperazone-sulbactam,while gram-positives to linezolid, vancomycin and daptomycin.Conclusion: Prolonged duration of hospitalization increasesthe risk of infection and invasive procedures. Prevention ofunnecessary invasive procedures, early removal of invasivecatheters, infection control measures and documenting ofantibiotic susceptibilities of causative organisms will reducethe incidence of HAI.Key words: Hospital acquired infection, intensive care unit,hospital acquired infection rat

Zinc Phosphide Poisoning

Zinc phosphide has been used widely as a rodenticide. Upon ingestion, it gets converted to phosphine gas in the body, which is subsequently absorbed into the bloodstream through the stomach and the intestines and gets captured by the liver and the lungs. Phosphine gas produces various metabolic and nonmetabolic toxic effects. Clinical symptoms are circulatory collapse, hypotension, shock symptoms, myocarditis, pericarditis, acute pulmonary edema, and congestive heart failure. In this case presentation, we aim to present the intensive care process and treatment resistance of a patient who ingested zinc phosphide for suicide purposes

Intra-articularly applied pulsed radiofrequency can reduce chronic knee pain in patients with osteoarthritis

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most widespread chronic joint disease worldwide. Symptomatic knee OA is observed in approximately 12% of individuals more than 60 years of age. Conservative treatments models may not be effective always, and that some of them have serious adverse effects that prompted the researchers to research different treatment methods. In this study, we investigated short- and mid-term effectiveness of intra-articular pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) applied in patients with chronic knee pain due to OA. Methods: This study was carried out in the pain management center of a university hospital between January 2009 and June 2009. The patient record files of 31 patients who received intra-articular PRF were retrospectively reviewed. The antero-lateral area of the knee, where the intervention would be applied, was anesthetized with 1% lidocaine. An introducer needle was placed intra-articularly. PRF was started as 42°C at 2 Hz for 15 minutes. The pain of the patients was evaluated by 10 cm Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Furthermore, the ages, the gender, the symptom duration of the patients, the side of the knee on which the intervention was applied, and the complications were collected for statistical evaluation. Results: Although the mean initial VAS scores of the patients were 6.1 ± 0.9 cm, it was found, respectively, to be 3.9 ± 1.9 cm and 4.1 ± 1.9 cm at the first- and sixth-month follow-ups. In general, a decrease of 32.8% in mean in the VAS scores was achieved in the last follow-up; whereas the rate of patients reporting a minimum decrease of 2 points in the VAS scores was 64.5% and the rate of patients reporting a decrease of ≥50% in their pain was calculated as 35.5%. Conclusion: PRF applied to the knee joint appears to be an effective and safe method